Welcome back to my series, WOW From My Younger Self! If you’re new here, this series is based on the “WOW”, aka “words of wisdom”, I gave to the people in my life when I was a teenager. There are certain aspects of my earlier life advice that I still stand by to this day, so I thought, why not share them here with you?
Back in my freshman year of high school, I came up with the idea of giving “life evaluation quizzes” to my classmates who were interested in figuring out how to better their lives. The quiz would ask them to rate various areas of their life from 1 to 10 and explain those ratings. Then there would be a short series of questions regarding their happiness, confidence, goals, willingness to take risks, etc. After having each classmate take the quiz, I would write up personalized life advice for them based on their answers. One classmate’s answers revealed that she tended to view life through a pessimistic lens. However, she was open to making improvements in her life to better herself. I gave her a list of 1-2-sentence tips on how to go about doing this. Looking back on them, one stands out to me the most:
“Live daringly, not sparingly.”
Not to toot my own horn, but I must say, I’m impressed with my teenage self’s creativity in coming up with that wise, rhyming piece of life advice! Not only is it a fun motto that rolls off the tongue, but there’s so much truth behind it. Let’s break it down, shall we?
“Live daringly…”
Living daringly is all about taking calculated risks. If you ask yourself the question, “what do I have to lose by doing this?”, and the answer isn’t anything substantial, then it’s not a dangerous risk. (Examples of substantial risks include those to your health, safety, financial security, etc. Unsubstantial risks include disappointment, judgment from strangers, a small investment, etc.). If you then ask yourself the question, “what do I have to gain by doing this?”, and the answer is contrarily something very substantial (i.e. fulfillment, love, success, etc.), then it’s probably a risk worth taking.
Sometimes we let the fear of failure, rejection, or even just being perceived a certain way by others stop us from taking the risks that we know could change our lives for the better. But if the worst thing that could happen is one of those fears coming true, whereas the best thing that could happen is that one of our dreams could come true, doesn’t that best case scenario hold more weight?
If you need an extra boost of bravery, my post Channel Your Bravery with These 5 Mindsets might just do the trick!
“…not sparingly.”
As far as not living sparingly goes, this can have a couple of meanings. Firstly, it can mean having an abundance mindset. This means that you firmly believe there are more than enough possibilities and opportunities available to you. Just because a few things you tried didn’t work out doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to try—not even close! Adopting this mindset can also be helpful when you’re contemplating walking away from something or someone you know isn’t right for you. By believing in abundance, you can more confidently walk away, knowing that something or someone better-suited for you will come along when the time is right.
Secondly, it can mean fully immersing yourself in all that life has to offer you. This ties into taking more risks. There’s no need to confine yourself to what’s familiar to you when there’s so much else out there that could be amazing for you. Regardless, take this as a reminder to appreciate your ability to explore the countless paths to happiness, success, fulfillment, etc. at your fingertips.
The bottom line…
All too often, we play it safe in life. We don’t even consider how much better life can get by just putting ourselves out there more. If you haven’t had a particularly positive outlook on life lately, ask yourself if you’ve been living life to its fullest. Have you been taking the worthwhile risks? Expanding your perception of what & who is out there for you? Actually exploring those possibilities? Now’s the time to do it all! I challenge you (and my 14-year-old self challenges you) to live daringly, not sparingly!
Leave a Reply